New Alcoa armor wins U.S. Army approval

DAVENPORT, Iowa, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- New armor plating from Alcoa has been approved for use on U.S. military vehicles by the U.S. Army Research Lab, the company said.

The product -- the ArmX 5456-H151 armor plate -- has met the U.S. military's highest performance standards for strength, blast absorption, and ballistics resistance for armored combat vehicles, said Mark Vrablec, president of Global Aerospace, Transportation and Industrial Rolled Products at Alcoa.

"Alcoa's military-grade aluminum alloys and products have helped the U.S. military protect troops for generations," Vrablec said. "Alcoa's latest innovation allows military vehicle manufacturers to continue building with the highest level of durability and troop protection through welding processes when assembling the vehicle, or performing repairs in the field.

"This new product offers more than 20 percent improvement in strength compared with the baseline 5083-H131 weldable armor plate, as well as improved ballistic and blast performance."

Alcoa said the 5456-H151 armor plate was developed at its technical center near Pittsburgh, and will be manufactured at a facility in Iowa.

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